There are many great reasons to use a self-hosted version of WordPress for developing your website and blog.  Here are my top 10:

1. Google loves WordPress (and blogs in general) because search engines favor sites that have regularly created fresh content.  See my post on SEO.
2. WordPress is interactive.  Visitors can comment on pages and posts.  You can create a community around your business with your site.
3. You can organize content with categories and visitors can view or subscribe to the categories they want to.
4. You can automatically sync your content to social websites such as Facebook with the RSS feed.
5. WordPress sites can be translatable into many languages.
6. WordPress sites are easy to update (far easier than reglular html or Joomla).
7. Multiple authors and editors can contribute to writing content and posting photos or video (you can DELEGATE!)
8. You can add PayPal buttons or a shopping cart to monetize your site (you can MAKE MONEY!)
9. You can embed video from YouTube easily (YouTube is second to Google as a search engine now!)
10. WordPress is open-source and is constantly evolving (it’s always getting better!)
11. OK one more: WordPress is easy to learn!

There are more advanced reasons that concern templates, tags and permalinks, but the 10 reasons listed above should satisfy most folks who need a fast and easy way to get their business website up and running.

Here is a screenshot of what WordPress looks like from the back-end:

Live in Nevada County and want to learn more about WordPress in person?  Come to my free class.